Divine Sniper - FS(18),Brd(2),Clr(1),AA(9)

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Contents 1 Introduction 2 From the Build Creator 3 Character Creation 4 Pros and Cons 5 Notes 6 Calculations 7 Character Progression 8 Variations

[edit] Introduction

Favored Soul 18, Bard 2, Cleric 1, Arcane archer 9

The Divine Sniper is a master of the bow, using divine spells and abilities to enhance accuracy and greatly improve damage output.

The main distinction that this build has with other archers is that the Divine Sniper uses Epic Divine Might to greatly enhance damage from his bow.

[edit] From the Build Creator

This article showcases a sample build that I created, based on the premise of a divine spell-based archer and customized it for the PW server that I play on. I am not much of a powergamer, and the sample build will highlight this. Having said that, the main purpose of this article is not to show you the most powerful archer, but to give you ideas and insights on creating effective archers through the use of divine spells and abilities.

During development of the Divine Sniper, the build underwent many changes. Much of these changes made me decide to include a variations section in this article. This section includes most of the other possibilities that I considered during the development stage and (mostly) rejected, but you the reader, might find useful for your own preferences.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to post them in the discussion section or send me a message on the NWN 2 bioware forums (username is Riviet). I am also a member of the Epic Character Builders Part Deux guild, which you should check out if you are interested in character building.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this article.

--Riviet

[edit] Character Creation

	Initial Values	Final Values
STR	18	21
DEX	18	18
CON	8	8
INT	6	6
WIS	8	8
CHA	16	22
Base attack bonus		23
Fortitude save		17
Reflex save		23
Will save		18
Spell resistance		0
Hit Points		206
Natural AC		13

Race: Wood Elf

Classes: Favored Soul 18, Bard 2, Cleric 1, Arcane archer 9

Cleric Domains: 2 of Darkness (blind fight)/ Water (evasion) / Air (uncanny dodge) / Earth (toughness) / Good (aura of courage)

Build Nature: PvM

Alignment: Any non-lawful

Deity: Solonor Thelandira

• Wood Elf was chosen as the +2 racial modifiers for str and dex were important. Another option is Drow (for the SR?), but it's ECL +2 and will be slow to level up with a 20% experience penalty.

• Alignment: I'm not familiar with which alignments Solonor Thelandira can be but it definitely can't be lawful as the build contains bard levels. This is not an issue if you take sorcerer instead (see variations).

• Favored Soul was chosen instead of cleric since the relatively high charisma complimented this class' spells per day and offered more buffs. The free weapon focus/specialization feats were a nice bonus too.

• Bard was chosen mainly for inspire courage and qualifying for AA.

• 1 level of cleric was needed to get divine might, and also gives you two free feats from the domains.

• AA is pretty self explanatory considering this is an archer build. The enhance arrow +5 by AA level 9 is nice.

[edit] Pros and Cons

Advantages

• Damage output greatly increased by epic divine might.

• With divine power, can get 30 BAB.

• Haste and improved rapid shot give a total of 8 attacks per round, 3 at full AB.

• Has access to level 9 divine spells and various useful buffs to boost AB/damage.

• Plenty of buffs and healing spells to go around for the party.

• Relatively good saves (30+ buffed) due to favored soul levels and buffs like battletide and recitation.

• Gets weapon focus and specialization (longbow) for free due to Favored Soul levels.

• Due to decent strength and high AB from buffs, the character is quite effective in close-quarters.

Disadvantages

• Relatively low AC (Low 40s).

• Relatively low hit points.

• Lacks skill points.

• Highly ineffective offensive casting due to poor wisdom.

• Buffs are time consuming and expire at varying time intervals, requiring constant rebuffing.

• Misses out on the feat, One Shot.

[edit] Notes

• For more AC, you could take another cleric level and drop a FS level to take divine shield. I decided not to take divine shield as it's not a big priority for archers and I like my level 9 divine spells.

• You can boost constitution through a con increasing item/enchantment.

• Taking Able learner with bard at first level will give you some more skill points, but this requires you to sacrifice a feat from the already tight feat list. On the upside, the extra skills should allow you to get some decent tumble, which will boost AC a little.

• I am aware of the bug where divine spell DCs for FS are determined by charisma but this is likely to get fixed within the next patch or so. You could try dropping FS altogether for cleric and pump up wisdom. See the variations section for more on this.

• One shot is pretty cool, but probably not feasible for this build, since str and cha need to be pumped up in order to get epic divine might.

• For more information and ideas on variations, see the Variations section.

[edit] Calculations

Equipment

Unless otherwise mentioned, and for the purposes of calculating AB, AC and damage, assume the following conditions:

• +8 bracers of armor
• Amulet of natural armor +5
• Mithral full plate
• +8 cha and dex items
• Boots of hardiness +2
• Duskwood longbow (+6 mighty)
• Ordinary arrows
• Brooch of shielding
• Given final base str is 21, any str item is sufficient to qualify for the full mighty damage from the longbow.
• Improved rapid shot is on.
• Every attack hits.

Fully Buffed Attack Bonus

30 (divine power BAB)
+8 (dex 26)
+5 (AA enhance arrow)
+1 (bard inspiration)
+1 (weapon focus)
+1 (aid)
+1 (bless)
+1 (prayer)
+3 (divine favor)
+2 (battletide)
+3 (recitation)
+1 (haste)
--
57/57/57/52/47/42/37/32

Fully Buffed Armor Class

10 (base)
+11 (mith full plate)
+8 (bracers of armor)
+5 (amulet of natural armor)
+5 (shield of faith)
+4 (brooch of shielding)
+1 (haste)
+2 (boots of hardiness)
--
46 AC

Fully Buffed Damage per hit

1-8 (longbow)
+6 (mighty)
+20 (epic divine might)
+5 (AA enhance arrow)
+1 (bard inspiration)
+3 (divine favor)
+2 (battletide)
+2 (weapon specialization)
+1 (prayer)
--
41 to 48 damage (average 44.5)

Average Damage per round

44.5*8 = 356

Average Damage per round (1 critical)

44.5*7 + 3*44.5 = 445

Fully Buffed Attack Bonus with Manyshot

(57-8)/(52-8)/(47-8)/42/37/32
=49/44/39/42/37/32

Average Damage per round with Manyshot

(2*44.5)*3 + 44.5*3 = 400.5

Average Damage per round with Manyshot (1 critical on normal hit)

(2*44.5)*3 + 44.5*2 + 3*44.5 = 489.5

[edit] Character Progression

CL	Class	Feat	Bonus/Class Feats	Attributes
1	Favored Soul 1	Point Blank Shot	Deity Weapon Proficiency (Martial)
2	Favored Soul 2
3	Favored Soul 3	Rapid Shot	Weapon Focus (Longbow)
4	Favored Soul 4			Cha +1
5	Favored Soul 5		Energy Resistance (Fire)
6	Favored Soul 6	Extend Spell
7	Favored Soul 7
8	Favored Soul 8			Cha +1
9	Favored Soul 9	Power Attack
10	Favored Soul 10		Energy Resistance (Electric)
11	Favored Soul 11
12	Cleric 1	Divine Might	Domain x2	Str +1
13	Favored Soul 12		Weapon Specialization (Longbow)
14	Favored Soul 13
15	Favored Soul 14	Persistent Spell
16	Bard 1			Str +1
17	Bard 2
18	Arcane Archer 1	Manyshot	Enhance Arrow I
19	Arcane Archer 2		Imbue Arrow x3
20	Arcane Archer 3		Enhance Arrow II	Str +1
21	Arcane Archer 4	Great Charisma I	Seeker Arrow x1
22	Arcane Archer 5		Enhance Arrow III
23	Arcane Archer 6	Great Charisma II	Seeker Arrow x2
24	Arcane Archer 7		Enhance Arrow IV	Cha +1
25	Arcane Archer 8	Epic Divine Might	Hail of Arrows x1
26	Arcane Archer 9		Enhance Arrow V
27	Favored Soul 15	Improved Critical (Longbow)	Energy Resistance (Acid)
28	Favored Soul 16			Cha +1
29	Favored Soul 17	Improved Rapid Shot	Haste x3
30	Favored Soul 18

Leveling Notes

• Most of the FS levels were taken first as I wanted to get divine might and persisted divine favor as early as possible. Be sure to take the cleric level on a feat level on or before 18 for divine might.

• There is not much room for variation, although your preferences may allow for some customization.

[edit] Variations

There is a bit room for variation in the Divine Sniper and this section outlines some possibilities to customize and tweak this build for your own liking.

Divine Sniper Variations

Most of these are solid choices (except for the last) which I would have taken if it weren't for my love of level 9 divine spells.

• Bard 4: you get level 2 bard spells, allowing access to heroism. Remember to cast it before you put on your armor. Beware of the 40% exp penalty.

• Cleric 2: the second cleric level allows you access to divine shield.

• Sorceror 1: for those that are big fans of true strike. Simply replace bard with sorceror.

• Arcane Archer 10: offers arrow of death and adds 1d6 damage to your imbue arrow. Not that great, and not recommended.

• Combinations of the above.

Manyshot

If you look at the damage calculations above, manyshot effectively adds an extra attack worth of damage at the cost of getting -8 AB penalty on the first three normal attack rolls. What I have found is that manyshot completely ignores your 2 hasted and rapid shot attacks and calculates the -8 penalty starting with your first normal attack that applies the full AB.

Fully Buffed Attack Bonus with Manyshot:

48/43/38/41/36/31 

Assuming each attack hits, the first three attack rolls each do double the 44.5 average damage, while the last three attacks are as normal. So for low AC opponents, manyshot is worthwhile while for high AC opponents, you are better off using (improved) rapid shot.

Depending on where you intend to play your archer, you will either want to take manyshot or not bother. I am well aware that this may not be an easy decision as I am still considering whether or not to take it when I play him on my server.

Starting with the Divine Sniper build showcased above, you could argue that improved rapid shot isn't that much of an improvement to rapid shot (assuming you don't like manyshot and therefore meaning it would be a waste to take manyshot simply to qualify for improved rapid shot). If this is the case, you could take something like epic prowess to make up for half of the lost AB. By doing this, you can use the manyshot feat for something else. If you do feel that manyshot will benefit you in the setting you play, by all means get manyshot (and improved rapid shot).

If you figure that manyshot won't be that useful for you, then you could just consider taking rapid shot and forget about 17 dex for manyshot/improved rapid shot (saving you a feat or two). You may be thinking why you would want to drop dex, seeing as that contributes to your AB. It also seems rational since you would only need to worry about str/cha for epic divine might, dex for AB, and you get access to manyshot/improved rapid shot. And this is what the Divine Sniper is based on. However, there is an alternative that allows for more customization, namely using zen archery to determine AB, and this is covered in the next part.

Zen Archery

Neglecting manyshot means that you can now focus a little on wisdom instead of dexterity, using zen archery to determine your AB. However, you will still need at least 13 dex for rapid shot and zen archery uses up a feat.

The zen archery route allows for more variability than the favored soul route, due to the fourth class vacancy. This is also one of the main reasons why you might want to consider the cleric/zen archery route instead of the FS/dex path that the Divine Sniper takes.

Unlike Favored Soul, you get FULL access to the cleric spells AND casting offensively is viable since wisdom determines the DC. Having said that, your wisdom will not be as good as a pure wisdom pumping cleric.

If you decide to go this route, I would recommend starting with a bard 2/AA 9, bard 4/AA 9, or sorc 1/AA 9 framework, then determine the number of cleric levels that you want. You don't need to know exactly how many cleric levels, but a fairly good idea will allow room for you to adjust this after deciding which fourth class you want. Here's my take on the cleric level choice:

• Cleric 9: this seems like the lowest you should consider as divine favor is capped here and you still get access to extended divine power and all of the AB buffs. The main issue here is that your buffs will have short to moderate duration, and you won't get many casts of the AB buffs like prayer and recitation.

• Cleric 13: a good cut-off point to take advantage of persistent divine favor as well as level 6 & 7 spells. Most of your buffs will have a pretty good duration too.

• Cleric 13+: 15 and 17 are good cut-offs for level 8 & 9 spells respectively. Persistent prayer is nice. You get more spells for the party and for yourself, plus they last longer.

After deciding approximately how many cleric levels, you can then proceed to choosing the fourth class. There aren't any clear options that stand out for the fourth class, so I'm leaving it up to you to decide what you want. Aasimar seems like the best race for starting stats (+2 wis and cha). The following are some possibilities for the fourth class:

• Fighter: A solid choice for the bonus feats. Speaking of feats, the absence of FS levels means you lose the free weapon specialization/focus and need to fit in weapon focus somewhere (probably through the fighter bonus feats).

• FS 3: for the bonus weapon focus (deity weapon) feat. Not a good choice, as fighter gets more bonus feats.

• Divine Champion: the bonus feats and saving throws are nice and I believe Great Wisdom is on the bonus feat list if the DC levels are taken when the character is epic.

• RDD 4: for the +2 AC and qualifying for EDM (+4 str), but this will create a bottleneck for your feats.

• Rogue: not a bad choice if you want more skills; the sneak attack and feats in the first few levels is good icing on the cake.

• Paladin: a possible choice for the divine grace at level 2. You will have to be sorcerer though (instead of bard) due to alignment conflicts.

• Blackguard: similarly to the paladin, you could take 2 levels for dark blessing.

• Warlock: probably a better choice than paladin and blackguard if you want those saving throws because you achieve the same result as these classes with only 1 level instead.

• Warpriest: the war glory might be useful. However, you may as well take cleric (for full spell progression) instead as the BAB is already taken care of from divine power. I would not recommend it.

• No fourth class: A solid choice for grouping purposes; buffs last a long while, and you get more spell slots than lower cleric levels.

Optimization for Powergamers

I am a bit of a powergamer so here's a nice little treat for you munchkin builders. :P I expect you guys to know your stuff inside out so I'll be brief here.

Cleric 13/Bard 4/RDD 4/AA 9 (Aasimar) looks like a good start for you to work on. RDD will make it easier to qualify for EDM. This allows you to focus a little more on cha and pump up the EDM damage. Sorcerer is probably better than bard if you plan to take advantage of true strike.